Resonant cavity imaging biosensor

The resonant cavity imaging biosensor (RCIB) detects binding between target biomolecules in solution and probe biomolecules fixed to a microarray surface. IR light couples resonantly through a 1 cm square cavity constructed from Si/SiO/sub 2/ Bragg mirrors that contains the microarray surface. As the wavelength of the probe beam is swept, an IR camera monitors cavity transmittance at each pixel. The current setup detects 5 nm relief structures etched in the SiO/sub 2/ surface of one of the Bragg mirrors. RCIB improves on existing label-free biosensing techniques by offering the combination of high sensitivity, high throughput, and real-time observation.